An Iron Flower
by Malia123
Summary: A story about Lily EvansPotter based on post Deathly Hallows revelations. Contains spoilers from the seventh book!


_Dear Diary_

_Today the strangest thing happened to me when I was at the park with Petunia. Severus Snape (the boy from down the road) decided to tell me that I'm a witch! Like, I can do magic! I don't know if I should believe him or not. I mean, wouldn't Mummy and Daddy have told me that witches and wizards exist? How come Severus knows this? I think I should talk to him again about this, but he scared Tuney away and I'm not sure if she would like it if I went back and talked to him. But, it might explain some of the different things I can do. Like how absolutely nobody else can jump higher off the swing than I can. Maybe if Petunia doesn't know if I talk to him, she won't mind. But I really really want to find out if it's true._

_Mummy is calling me for dinner. More for later._

_Love Lily_

"Lily, honey! Please remember to wash your hands before you come to the table!"

Lily sighed and closed her diary. She'd have to wait until later to think about what Severus had told her. Making her way slowly to the bathroom, Lily mulled over the information that she had been told that afternoon. Severus hadn't been very clear in his explanation. But then again, she hadn't really given him much of a chance to explain. He must know more. He had to, Lily was sure. She'd go talk to him again, ask him questions about what he meant. She probably just misunderstood what he was trying to say.

"Lily! Your dinner is going to be cold!"

"Yes, Mummy, I'm coming!" Lily replied. She'd put what Severus said out of her mind for now.

Because it couldn't be true. It just couldn't. Witches weren't real. They were what little kids dress up as for Halloween. Witches are mean old ladies who nobody likes. There was no way Lily could be a witch. It just couldn't be true.

But could it?

After eating her dinner as quickly as she dared, Lily decided to ask her mother if she could go back to the park.

"Of course honey, just be back before dark," her mother replied. "And don't forget your coat!"

"Yes Mummy!" Lily called as she dashed from the room. She had decided that she was going to go to the park and ask Severus more about this whole magic business. The park was only five minutes from Lily's house and she ran the whole way, eager to talk to Severus. Lily arrived at the park and stood by the swings that she had been playing on with Petunia earlier.

"Severus?" she called. "Severus?" She walked over towards the bushes that Severus had jumped out of earlier and saw him lying on the ground in a small thicket of trees. Lily walked up slowly next to him, settled down on the ground, and took a deep breath. Severus looked up at her.

"Severus? Can I talk to you for a second?"

_Dear Diary_

_I think Severus might be right. So much of what he says makes sense. I can make funny things happen without meaning to. I really think I am a witch! But I have to wait until I get a Hogwarts letter to know for sure. Severus said that someone from Hogwarts will come and explain things to Mummy and Daddy and Petunia._

_Oh Tuney came and saw me talking to Severus. He scared her away and it made me really angry. He shouldn't do that to my sister! And then I had to chase her the whole way home and she wouldn't talk to me. Tuney finally came round when we were watching television. I was so happy, I really hated when she was mad at me. _

_Well, Petunia's knocking on my door now. She promised me we'd play with our dolls before bed._

_Love Lily_

Lily giggled as Petunia put on a high-pitched voice and made her doll move towards Lily's.

"Why, I think you will be the laughingstock of the entire neighborhood if you don't learn how to dance properly," Petunia made her doll say.

Lily's giggles subsided long enough for her to make her own doll reply. "I think not. The cotton-eyed joe is a perfectly acceptable form of dance."

"Not if you want an acceptable marriage! No, no, you must must must learn how to foxtrot!" Petunia exclaimed. And then the sisters looked at each other, and burst out into laugher.

"Imagine doing the cotton-eyed joe at your wedding," Lily gasped.

"The only thing worse would be the YMCA!" Petunia said through her laughter. The girls looked at each other and burst into laughter again.

"Petunia! Lily! Time to get ready for bed!"

"Yes, Daddy!" the girls replied in unison.

"Bet I'll beat you to the bathroom," Lily said with a sly grin.

"I don't think so!" Petunia exclaimed. Their eyes locked for a second, and they both dashed towards the bathroom. Lily got there first.

"Ha! Beaten by your ten-year-old baby sister!" Lily teased.

"I'll get you next time. Move over, there's enough room at the sink for us to brush our teeth together," Petunia replied good-naturedly.

After they washed up, the two girls went back down the hall to their shared bedroom. There wasn't a need for them to share a room, for the Evans' house had four bedrooms, but Lily had never wanted to be parted from her sister at night. It had started when she was little and afraid of the dark. Lily would sneak out of her bed and into Petunia's. After finding Lily in Petunia's bed countless times, their parents had decided it would just be easier for the two girls to share a room. Petunia had never had a problem with the arrangement; she seemed to thoroughly enjoy sharing a room with Lily. As they climbed into bed, Lily decided to ask Petunia a question.

"Tuney?" she whispered into the darkness.

"Yeah, Lily?" Petunia muttered; clearly she had already been drifting off to sleep.

"We're more than just sisters, right? We're friends too?" Lily asked.

"Of course, Lily. You're my best friend," Petunia replied.

"Good. Because you're my best friend too," Lily said.

"Mmmm… I'm going to sleep now. I'll see you in the morning," Petunia mumbled.

"Night, Tuney."

"Night, Lily."

Several months later, Lily woke up to Petunia throwing her pillow at her.

"Wake up sleepyhead! It's someone's eleventh birthday!" Petunia exclaimed.

"It's January 30 already?" Lily said, her voice still heavy with sleep.

"Yup, and Mummy's made you a gigantic birthday breakfast. But she says we can't start eating until you're awake and I'm starving!" Petunia said.

"I'm coming, just let me get my robe," Lily said, slipping on her bathrobe and fluffy bunny slippers. She dashed down the stairs after Petunia and walked into the kitchen. There were several brightly wrapped packages on the table. Her mother turned around from the stove where she had been frying bacon when she heard Lily and Petunia enter the room.

"Lily!" Mrs. Evans exclaimed, wrapping her youngest daughter in a tight embrace. "Happy birthday, sweetheart!"

Mr. Evans walked into the kitchen and swept Lily up into a giant bearhug. "Happy birthday, Lil-pill!"

Lily scrunched her nose at her father's nickname. She had asked him to stop before, but had never succeeded. She remained "Lil-pill."

"Open one of your presents, Lily! The rest have to wait until dinner," Mrs. Evans said. It was family tradition. All of the presents were laid out at breakfast, and the birthday girl got to pick one to open before breakfast, the rest had to wait until after dinner when they had cake and ice cream.

"Oh, open mine, Lily!" Petunia exclaimed, handing Lily a package wrapped in pink paper.

Lily smiled and took the gift from her sister. She gently ripped away the paper, to reveal a new pair of roller skates. Lily squealed with delight.

"Yay! Thank you so much Petunia!" she cried, hugging her sister. "Now we can skate together all day!"

"Wait until after breakfast," Mrs. Evans said with a smile. She began to put pancakes and bacon onto everyone's plates. Lily and Petunia ate quickly, eager to start roller skating. As soon as their plates were clean, the two girls dashed from the kitchen at outside.

"Watch out for ice!" Mrs. Evans called after them.

Lily and Petunia spent the entire morning outside in the cold winter's air, trying their best to roller skate. Countless times one of them would fall, often dragging the other down amid heaps of giggles. At noon, the two girls went inside and drank cups of tea to warm them up. They had turkey and cheese sandwiches for lunch, because it was Lily's favorite.

"Let's have a snowball fight, Tuney!" Lily exclaimed as they were finishing lunch.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun!" Petunia said, and the two girls dashed from the kitchen.

After spending two more hours outside playing in the snow, Lily and Petunia were so cold they could barely walk. Teeth chattering, they dashed inside and stood by the warm fireplace.

The two girls spent the rest of the afternoon watching cartoons on television. Petunia's favorite was _The Flintstones_ but because it was Lily's birthday, they watched Bugs Bunny. At six o'clock, Mrs. Evans called them into the kitchen to eat dinner. The table was laden with steak and kidney pie, mashed potatoes and gravy, Lily's favorite.

After dinner, Lily and Petunia dashed off to the sitting room to play Old Maid while Mrs. Evans cleaned the table and got ready for cake and ice cream.

"I win again!" Lily cried.

"I just let you win because it's your birthday," Petunia replied with a smile.

"No you didn't! I'm just exceptionally good at Old Maid!"

"Petunia! Lily! Time for cake a presents!" Mr. Evans called from the kitchen.

Lily sat down at the head of the table and Mrs. Evans placed a chocolate cake in front of her. Her faced glowed from the light of eleven candles. Lily scrunched her eyes tight, and for the first time in months thought about what Severus had told her. She had been busy with school and hadn't wanted to make Petunia angry, so she hadn't seen him very much. Lily knew what she wanted to wish for.

"I wish that I'm a witch and that I get to go to Hogwarts," Lily thought. Then she took a deep breath and then blew out all eleven candles.


End file.
